Another CES (News - Alert) has come and gone with the usual slew of vendors touting their products. So, what were some of the highlights of CES 2012?

Tablets – As tablet demand continues to increase, more companies unveiled new products hoping to grab a chunk of a market still dominated by the iPad. Acer showed off its A510 and A700 tablets. Outfitted with Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich, the 10.1-inch A510 and A700 are both powered by a quad-core Tegra 3 processor. Asus refreshed its Transformer Prime, Toshiba revealed its Excite X10 and Lenovo highlighted the IdeaTab S2. A host of other tablet makers also displayed their newest wares. And beyond facing the latest wave of Android devices, we’ll be seeing a variety of Windows 8-based tablets once Microsoft launches the new OS later this year.

Of course, all new tablets will bump into the intense competition in the form of Apple’s flagship device. Not only popular with consumers but also gaining more traction in the enterprise arena, the iPad remains and will remain the tablet to beat.

Ultrabooks – Hoping to grab some of the market share swiped by Apple’s MacBook Air, more vendors are releasing light and thin laptops, or ultrabooks, as they’ve been christened. HP hit CES with its Envy 14 Spectre, while Dell’s upcoming XPS 13 was also on display. Lenovo swooped into the market with several models, including its IdeaPad Yoga, U310, and U410, lineup as well as its T430U, a laptop targeted for the business crowed. Acer was again in the mix with 14-inch and 15-inch Timeline (News - Alert) and Aspire S5 ultrabooks and Samsung touted its new Series 9 machine. Several of these newcomers are slated for release later in the year, which means they’ll be likely running Windows 8.

As with the tablet market, ultrabook vendors are facing heavy competition from the MacBook Air, which has certainly proven popular among consumers. As such, many of the vendors are striving to beat Apple’s lightweight laptop on both price and features, with several models coming in below the $1000 price point. And since most companies standardize on Windows rather than the Mac OX, many of these rival products may find a healthy niche among IT professionals and business users looking for the latest light and thin mobile PCs.

Windows Phone (News - Alert) – The smartphone market is overwhelmingly dominated by Android and Apple. But the battle for third place could eventually be won by Nokia with huge shot of help from Microsoft’s Windows Phone, according to many analysts. With a couple of Windows Phone-powered Lumia smartphones already on the market, both Nokia and Microsoft took to the stage at CES to demo the Lumia 900, a new handset likely to hit the U.S. market sometime in the first quarter courtesy of AT&T (News - Alert) as its carrier. Picking up a lot of buzz and several awards at CES 2012, the Lumia 900 could be worth checking out by IT pros and mobile users looking for something different beyond Apple and Android.

CES Itself – Beyond the cavalcade of new products and technologies, CES 2012 itself was in the news over Microsoft’s decision to make this year its last appearance at the annual show. As more and more once-popular computer shows have bitten the dust over the years, CES is one of the few still in full bloom year after year. But not all companies feel the annual show is the best way to market their latest products. Apple decided several years ago to suspend its CES appearances and instead schedule its own dedicated events to tout new product launches. Microsoft is likely feeling the same way.

I certainly don’t think CES is in any danger of closing its doors in the foreseeable future. But over time, the show may prove less relevant to some of the major industry players who increasingly want to promote their own products on their schedules rather than get lost in the crowds at the large and at times overwhelming tech show.

Want to learn more about the latest in communications and technology? Then be sure to attend ITEXPO East 2012, taking place Jan. 31-Feb. 3 2012, in Miami, FL. ITEXPO (News - Alert) offers an educational program to help corporate decision makers select the right IP-based voice, video, fax and unified communications solutions to improve their operations. It's also where service providers learn how to profitably roll out the services their subscribers are clamoring for – and where resellers can learn about new growth opportunities. For more information on registering for ITEXPO registration click here.

Stay in touch with everything happening at ITEXPO. Follow us on Twitter.